Based on a play by Carlo Goldoni, Rossini’s La Gazzetta revolves around a man who strangely tries to find a husband for his daughter by placing an ad in the newspaper. The Opera Royal de Wallonie closed its 2014 season with this opera buffa. This production was directed by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera, and includes for the first time a Rossini quintet, which was discovered in 2012 and has been given its rightful place in Act One. Subtitles are available for this production in Italian, English, French, Germany, Japan, and Korea.

(...) the musicians in this recording do a superb job of capturing all these disparate elements of the mass. The chorus is crisp and the soloists strong - especially tenor Roberto Sacci�, who gives an expressive, clear-voiced, and assured performance. In fact, all of the singers summon grace when called for, and bravura when needed. - Engineer and producer Andreas Spreer presents the listener with an extremely natural sound. All in all, a distinguished accomplishment. (Stereophile) Although the ensemble does not dazzle US with any famous names, I really like this production very much indeed for it's unaffected and almost sensational naturalness. (HiFiVision)

It is difficult to talk of Alberto Zedda in the past tense. Zedda was a person of such enthusiasm that it immediately rubbed off on all those who approached him. In addition to being an excellent conductor, he was an organizer of cultural events, a highly-efficient manager, full of ideas, who put at the service of music his omnivorous culture. For Dynamic Alberto Zedda recorded live Rossini’s Otello, Semiramide and Armida. Partially written in 1831 and only completed at the end of 1841, Rossini’s Stabat Mater was premiered in Paris, at the Theatre Italien, on January 7, 1842, delivered by fine soloists: Giulia Grisi, Emma Albertazzi, Mario de Candia and Antonio Tamburini. It has always been the composer’s best-known and most popular sacred work, because of the power of its dramatic contrasts and beautiful melodies, which make of it one of the masterpieces of Italian 19th-century sacred music, worthy of a place beside Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem.

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Rossini wrote Semiramide in the winter of 1822/23 for La Fenice of Venice. The libretto is based on Voltaire's drama Semiramis, written by the French philosopher and scholar in 1748. In some respects a conclusive opera, Semiramide contains traditional elements alongside innovative ones. Semiramide summarizes and completes Rossini's serious arc and is paradigmatic of all that would follow.

Rossini's ceaseless wit and invention are best exemplified in his series of operas. His colorful orchestration and command of both comic and tragic elements can be savored in this second of four volumes of the complete symphonic overtures. Guillaume Tell, with it's overture in four movements, includes a scene for five solo cellos. La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder), one of his most popular pieces, opens with an overture of charm and elan. Volume 1 (8.570933) was described by MusicWeb Internationals "an admirable start to what looks like being a very desirable series".

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The Barber of Seville is Rossini's most popular opera. It's effervescent overture (written originally for another work!) presents a perfect platform for the amusing plot in which the barber, Figaro, stage-manages a romance between Count Almaviva and Rosina, and puts to flight the old suitor, Dr Bartolo. 'Largo al Factotum' is one of the most popular arias in opera - nearly 200 years after it's first performance it is still one of the great show-stoppers. But why was the opera received with boos and catcalls at it's first performance in 1816, and why did Rossini return to the plot and environment presented so sublimely by Mozart? Opera writer Thomson Smillie and actor David Timson present the background in their informative but entertaining manner.

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Dario Fo applies his inventive genius to Rossini's comic opera in it's premiere DVD release.

The seventh release in the series of live concert recordings featuring the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra under conductor Paul M�gi presents a program of popular and well-known overtures by Gioacchino Rossini, including those from the opera La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie), William Tell, Tancredi and Il turco in Italia.Estonian conductor Paul M�gi has had a long and successful career as conductor and artistic leader of several prominent Baltic state ensembles.Appointed chief conductor of Uppsala Chamber Orchestra in 2004, Mr. M�gi is also a much-in-demand opera conductor.

Gioachino Rossini's opera "L'Italiana in Algeri" is one of the composer's best-known operas and has lost none of its rousing freshness and energy since its premiere in 1813. At the end of 2022, the young conductor Jakob Lehmann and his Eroica Berlin orchestra presented Rossini's music at the Delphi Theatre (Berlin) according to the latest knowledge of historical performance practice. "This creates a fresh, detailed, cooler, brilliant but also airy sound in comparison to conventional performances ... The agogics and the pleasurable ritardandi, the portamenti and the short, dry staccati also show that the musicians have studied earlier practices in depth. The music is played here as we learn it from early 19th-century sources." (Merkeronline) Mezzo-soprano Hannah Ludwig stands out from the international ensemble of young singers in the leading role. "As Isabella, she dazzles with a luminous tone that is also well blended in the lower register, has agility, but also the necessary dramatic impetus. A singer who is a pleasure." (Merkeronline)

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Many Years Before the Dawn of the Rossini Renaissance, Two Faultless Bel Canto Protagonists of the 1960S and '70S, Renata Scotto and Alfredo Kraus, at the Beginning of Their Respective Careers, Sang This Rossini 'Il Barbiere Di Siviglia' in Naples in 1958. Despite Both Appearing in Roles They Would Soon Abandon, It's Highly Unlikely One Could Have a Word of Criticism About Their Performances Here. In the Title Role, As Theatres Used to Do in Those Years, a Dramatic Baritone Voice Specialized in Verdi and Verismo Roles; Here the Figaro Heard Is the Remarkable Aldo Protti.

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